Title
Proclamation recognizing the 65th anniversary of the torpedoing of the S.S. McKeesport.
Body
WHEREAS, April 29, 2008 marks the 65th anniversary of the torpedoing of the S.S. McKeesport, an action which launched one of the most violent North Atlantic Battles of World War II; and
WHEREAS, the S.S. McKeesport was officially launched on March 9, 1919 at the ship yards of the Federal Shipbuilding Company at Kearney's Point, New Jersey; and
WHEREAS, Miss Eleanor Roberts Cornelius, daughter of National Tube Works General Manager William A. Cornelius, was the sponsor for the McKeesport and christened the ship to signify its first launch; and
WHEREAS, a freight vessel, the McKeesport was one of 43 ships in convoy ONS-5, westbound from Liverpool to New York and carrying 2,000 tons of sand ballast when she was torpedoed by German U-Boats on April 29, 1943; and
WHEREAS, miraculously, the McKeesport's Captain, Oscar John Lohr, and the majority of his 11-man crew, 31 other men, and a Navy Armed Guard gun crew of 25 survived the attack, with on-board merchant seaman John A. Anderson being the only casualty; and
WHEREAS, the ensuing battle lasted several days and by the end of May 1943, with the help of the British Admiralty, the German fleet lost 47 U-Boats and withdrew from the North Atlantic, resulting in the first major victory of convoy escorts over U-Boats;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, Allegheny County Council hereby recognizes the 65th anniversary of the torpedoing of the S.S. McKeesport. We remember all those who were involved in the events of April 29, 1943 and the sacrifices that were made in order to defeat the seemingly invincible opposition.